Elton John, Lady Gaga Discuss Fighting AIDS, Saving Troubled Teens

By

On Top Magazine Staff

|
October 15, 2015

This week's Billboard, on news
stands tomorrow, features an op-ed written by Elton John on fighting
AIDS and an interview with Lady Gaga, in which she discusses saving
trouble teens through her foundation.

Around the time Born this Way
was released in 2011, 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer committed suicide
after being bullied for coming out gay. In a heartbreaking It Gets
Better video, Rodemeyer reached out to struggling gay teens. “Lady
Gaga, she makes me so happy, and she lets me know that I was born
this way. … Just love yourself and you're set,” he said shortly
before his death.

“When that album came out, Jamey
heard pieces of it and was posting about it on the Internet, but
unfortunately, he was already in that very deep dark space,” Gaga
told Billboard. “Jamey and other teens who take their lives
young because they feel different – I wanted to make [their deaths]
a lesson instead of a casualty of our negligence.”

In
his op-ed, John discusses the work his foundation is doing to
help end AIDS.

“Dozens and dozens of my close
friends and many colleagues in the music industry became HIV
positive,” he wrote. “They suffered and died, and it was the
most horrible feeling, losing loved ones and knowing there was
nothing I could do to help.”

“But I knew I had to help. I needed
to do something.”

“If we continue to harness passion
and commitment – the energy of individuals, working tirelessly,
doing whatever they can to make a difference – then I believe with
all my heart that in my lifetime I will have seen the very first day,
and also the very last day, of the AIDS epidemic,” he added.